Geography Figure 6.4 provides the data for three of the crime indicators at middle super output area level. It is fairly evident from this data and figures 6.5 and 6.6, that the highest levels of crime are experienced by people living in the central, more deprived and most ethnically diverse parts of Bolton. For instance, the highest levels of personal experience of physical attack are seen in residents of Town Centre, Moses Gate and Halliwell Road. Obviously, figure 6.6, showing the proportions of people experiencing racist attacks, generally depicts the concentration of minority ethnic population. However, the same areas show the highest levels of physical attack and the highest levels of experiencing more than one crime. One in five people living in Town Centre have experienced more than one type of crime in the last year.
Fear of crime Almost 7% of adults surveyed in Bolton said that they would feel unsafe walking alone in their area during the daytime. Just over 41% said they would feel unsafe walking alone after dark. Women were more likely to feel unsafe out walking during both parts of the day (during the day – men 5.4%, women 8.3%, after dark – men 29.3%, women 52.3%). Women were more than twice as likely to say that they felt unsafe alone in their home at night (men 7%, women 15.1%, overall 11.2%).
Variations across the Bolton population Age/sex There is no strong overall pattern displayed by the age and sex groups in the fear of crime indicators in figure
The Annual Report of The Director of Public Health for Bolton 2008 - 2009
6.1. The female age group is always more likely to fear crime than their male counterpart but the pattern by age shifts according to the indicator. Older women are the most likely to fear walking out alone, be it during the day or after dark. Younger men are more likely to feel unsafe in their home alone at night than older aged men. Ethnicity The White Irish population show the highest proportion of people who would not feel safe out walking alone during the day (figure 6.2), with all minority ethnic groups having larger proportions (mostly not significant) than the White British population. The Black population shows the highest level of fear for being along in the home at night with 18.7%. Deprivation Each fear of crime indicator is very strongly correlated with deprivation. For instance, people living in the most deprived quintile are six times as likely to feel unsafe out walking alone during the day as those people living in the least deprived quintile. Geography Generally those areas that have high rates of personally experienced crime also tend to have higher proportions of people feeling unsafe (figure 6.4). The majority of people living in areas such as Burnden, Town Centre, Highfield & New Bury, Halliwell Road, Tonge Moor and Hall i’th’ Wood, Lever Edge and Breightmet N & Withins, Victory, Moses Gate and Central Farnworth feel unsafe when alone in their own homes at night. Figures 6.7 and 6.8 very well depict the strong association these indicators have with deprivation.